I point all this out because I can't recall as much concentrated focus on the term structure and I'm wondering how long it will take the market to despair and then offer down the longer dated contracts, re-establishing the backwardation.

Buy front and sell 2013 appears crazy at this instant but may become a nice trade quicker than one might expect.

Here's more at MarketBeat:

Oil has lost nearly one third of its value over the past three
months. This week, the Brent market made a surprising turn, which may
indicate that the market may be near a turning point.

On Tuesday, Brent crude, for near-term delivery, dropped below those
for delivery in several months, flipping into a market condition known
as “contango.” As of Friday morning, Brent for August delivery is
trading at $90.45 a barrel, compared to $90.90 for the October contract.

Brent is the European benchmark; WTI is the U.S. benchmark. WTI today is up 1.3% at $79.21.

This marks a reversal from an extended period of “backwardation” in
the Brent market, according to James Williams, owner of WTRG Economics,
an independent energy research company. Since February 2011, except for a
few brief occasions, Brent has been staying backwardated, where buyers
are willing to pay a premium to have the oil immediately, he said.

“The fact that it is trading in contango through most of 2013
underscores how weak the fundamentals are,” said Hussein Allidina, head
of commodity research at Morgan Stanley. In a contangoed market,
producers are offering discounts for oil ready for shipment, suggesting
subdued demand and ample supply. For now, fears for supply disruptions
that have been plaguing the Brent market seem finally to be abating....MORE

The Brent complex flipped to contango last week, showing an oversupply
situation in Europe, but exports to South Korea and planned field maintenance
have kept it stronger than it would otherwise be, said traders Wednesday.

August ICE Brent was trading at a $0.24/barrel discount to September by
1040 GMT, a situation known as contango.

Later Brent intermonth spreads were trading in contango up until
February-March 2013, the first time such a sustained weakness is seen since
February 2011, when civil war in Libya interrupted the country's oil exports.

Contango is when supply of prompt oil is deemed larger than the supply
of oil for later periods. The opposite is known as backwardation....MORE